Scholar . Mentor . Teacher

Dr. Christy L. Erving is a sociologist and interdisciplinary health equity scholar. She is currently an Associate Professor of Sociology,  a faculty associate of the Population Research Center, and an affiliate of the Center for Aging and Population Sciences as well as the Humanities, Health & Medicine Program at the University of Texas at Austin.  Dr. Erving’s program of research draws from theories, concepts, and perspectives across various disciplines to clarify and explain distinctions in mental and physical health by race, gender, ethnic, nativity, and socioeconomic status. Her most recent projects investigate the psychosocial determinants of Black women's health across the life course, spanning early adulthood through later life. Her work integrates sociological theoretical perspectives with insights from other disciplines to ascertain how Black women's gendered and racialized life experiences both negatively and positively influence psychological and physiological health. 

She received a B.A. in Sociology and Hispanic Studies at Rice University, and M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology at Indiana University, Bloomington, with a minor in Social Science Approaches to Health and Healing Systems. Upon completion of her Ph.D., she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  

Dr. Erving was born and raised in Dallas, Texas in the Oak Cliff community. Outside of her time as a faculty member, she enjoys eating at new restaurants, singing in the choir, attending concerts, watching reality TV, taking dance cardio classes, and spending quality time with family and friends.